Living room office cabinet



March 8, K- LIVING ROOM OFFICE CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1,1962 INVENTOR KONRAD LAMMEYER ATTORNEYS March 8, 1966 K. LAMMEYER LIVINGROOM OFFICE CABINET 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed May 1, 1962 INVENTOR KON RADLAMMEYER ATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,239,294- LlVING ROUM UFFICECABiNlET Konrad Lammeyer, Sturmiusstrasse 2, Hulda, Germany Filed May 1,1962, Ser. No. 191,611 Claims priority, application Germany, May 2,1961, L 29,275, L 38,892 Claims. (Cl. 31227) This invention relates to anew living-room office cabinet and more specifically to a piece offurniture suitable for typewriting as well as for other oflice workrequiring a usual writing table.

In many cases, for example in case of commercial travellers who are athome only on week ends, presidents or secretaries of clubs, societiesetc., teachers, physicians, in short in all cases in which the ofiicework to be done is limited in time or in amount, it is not worth whilehaving a separate office room furnished with writing desk, filingcabinets, typewriter table, etc. involving high expenses for rent,heating and maintenance.

There are known writing desks having desk plates which can be drawn outor swung down into position ready for use, and providing space forreceiving a typewriter. With these known writing desks, the typewriterhas, however, to be taken out and put onto the desk plate so that whiletypewriting the desk plate cannot be used for other purposes.Furthermore, these desks offer working space to one person only and notsimultaneously to two persons as is often required, for'example if acommercial traveller or agent comes home in the evening or on theweek-end and wishes to discuss and do desk work together with his wifeor with another person. Moreover, these desks permit typewriting only inan uncomfortable and inconvenient position.

An object of the invention is to provide a piece of furniture which, inclosed position, requires a minimum of space and can be put into anyliving-room, but nevertheless contains all the necessary oflicearticles, and which, in opened position, offers suiiicient working placeat a convenient working height.

A further object of the invention is to provide a living room ofiicecabinet which despite limited dimensions in closed position, permits,when opened, the simultaneous working of two persons-one at thetypewriter table and the other at the writing desk.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide means which permit ina simple and space-saving manner displacing a typewriter from aninoperative position within a cabinet of the type in question intooperative position at the usual writing height.

The living-room ofiice cabinet according to the invention comprises avertically adjustable typewriter supporting plate, pigeonholes anddrawers for receiving various articles for office purposes, such as cardindex boxes, calculating machine, dictating machine, writing materialsetc., furthermore one or several doors at least one of which carries onits inside a file shelf which is swung into the space underneath thetypewriter supporting plate when closing the door, and a pivotallymounted desk plate forming the cover plate of the cabinet.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention consists of thenovel features of construction, combi nation, and arrangement of parts,hereinafter fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings forming part of this application, and in which similarreference characters indicate corresponding parts in all views, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the invention showing aliving-room office cabinet in closed position.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the living-room oflice cabinet incompletely opened position.

Patented Mar. 8, 1966 FIG. 3 is a plan view of the living-room ofiicecabinet according to FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial view showing in detail the means forvertically adjusting the typewriter supporting plate.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view taken on the line A-B in FIG. 4, partly insection.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicatesgenerally a living-room oflice cabinet separated into a middle portionand two side portions by two stationary partitions 2 and 3. The sideportions can be adapted to serve different oflice purposes.

In the embodiment illustrated, the left side portion is equipped with apigeonhole 4 for receiving a card index box, a drawer 5 for ofiicearticles, such as pencils, paper clips etc., drawers 6 for letter paper,envelopes etc. while the right side portion is provided with apigeonhole 7 for a dictating machine or a card index box, a drawer 8 anda pigeonhole 9. The middle portion contains a vertically adjustableplate 10 carrying a typewriter (not shown) provided in the upper space11. In the upper position of the plate 10 (FIGS. 4 and 5) the typewriteris at the proper height for use and there is sufficient space for thewriters legs and knees, while in the lowermost position (FIG. 2) thetypewriter is completely concealed within the cabinet.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the plate 10 rests upon a scissors-likeparallel guide device formed by two pairs of legs 25 the ends of whichare pivotally and slidably, mounted, respectively on angle irons 26 and27. The upper angle irons 27 are fixed at both sides of the bottomsurface of the plate 10. The lower angle irons 26 are secured to ledges28 which in turn are afiixed to the partitions 2 and 3. Alternatively,the angle irons 26 can be directly mounted on the partitions 2 and 3.The two legs 25 of each pair of legs have their centers pivotallyinterconnected. Pins affixed to the extremities 25 of the legs 25 areslidable within slots 29 provided in the angle irons 26 and 27. A setplate 30 is pivotally con nected with the rear wall 33 of the cabinet 1by means of a ledge 31 and hinges 32. The set plate 30 has itspreferablyrounded-upper front parts 34 bear against the bottom surface of plate11) and can be tilted by handle 36 extending through a slot 37 in theplate 10. The plate 10 is raised by moving the handle 36 in thedirection opposite to arrow 35 from its almost horizontal rest position(FIGS. 2 and 3) into essentially vertical position position (FIGS. 4 and5). The lowering of the plate 10 is eifected by moving the handle 36 inthe direction of arrow 35, and is assisted by the weight of thetypewriter on plate 10. The combination of parallel guide device 25-29and set plate device 30-32 and 36 ensures an easy and safe lowering andraising of the typewriter.

A desk plate 12 completely covers the cabinet 1 when it is closed (FIG.1). The desk plate is, adjacent one of its ends, pivotally connected tothe right side portion of the cabinet and can be swung about a pivot 13in the direction of arrows 14 into the fully extended position (FIG. 2)or into each desired intermediate position in the forward and rearwarddirection, as indicated by dot-dash lines in FIG. 3 by way of example.

Due to the unilateral mounting of the desk plate the full effectivespace of the desk plate 12 can be made use of, even in the uppermostposition of the typewriter supporting plate 10. When the desk plate isswung out by for example, one person can typewrite and alternativelywork at the desk plate 12, merely by turning, preferably on a swivelchair. The cabinet according to the invention, however, also allows oneperson to work at the desk plate and another person to typewritesimultaneously. If the desk plate 12 is swung out by or 270, the twopersons are sitting one beside the other and substantially facing eachother, respectively.

Legs 16 are pivotally mounted near the end of the desk plate 12 oppositethe pivot 13 to ensure a safe support of plate 12 in opened position.The legs 16 can be moved to the bottom surface of the desk plate 12 inthe direction of arrow 17 and locked there.

Furthermore, a ledge 18 is fixed to the bottom surface of the desk plate12, which ledge serves as a supporting and locking means for the plate12 when the cabinet 1 is closed.

Attached to the front of the cabinet are two doors 15, 20. The door 15serves for covering the right side portion and the door 20 serves forcovering at the left side and middle portions. Mounted on the inside ofthe door 20 is a file shelf 21 which, when the door 20 is closed,extends into the free space 19 underneath the typewriter supportingplate 10, whereby the files are lodged in an invisible and dust-freemanner. Since the door 20 may be large corresponding to the size of thecabinet, and the files may be relatively heavy, a supporting roller 22,which may be spring-loaded, is secured to the bottom surface of the fileshelf 21. When the cabinet 1 is closed, the supporting roller 22 ishardly visible. The door 20 can be opened at an angle of 180; it can,however, also be put into any intermediate position (dot-dash-lines)(FIG. 3) so that the files are in easy reach when sitting in front ofthe cabinet.

The bottom surface of the file shelf 21 is provided with a wedge 23which rests upon a bottom ledge 24 when the door 20 is closed, and whichensures that the lower edges of both doors are in registry even if thefile shelf is heavily loaded.

It will be understood that many changes and modifications of the cabinetdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. There may be provided, for example, instead of the twodoors 15, 20 one door only. Furthermore, the cabinet may rest uponrollers in order to be easily movable. An additional working place maybe provided by equipping the left side portion with a further platewhich may e.g. be laterally folded down or detachably mounted.

What I claim is:

1. A living-room ofiice cabinet with means for receiving oflicearticles, comprising in its upper portion vertically adjustabletypewriter supporting means, and a desk plate secured-to said cabnetnear one of its ends and being swingable in horizontal direction tocover the cabinet, said vertical adjustable typewriter supporting meanscomprising a suporting member, parallel guide means connecting saidsupporting member to said cabinet, a plate which is tiltable about ahorizontal axis by means of a handle connected to said plate, said platebeing pivoted at its one edge for swinging upwardly from a horizontalposition by more than and having means at its other edge engageable withthe lower side of the supporting member for holding it in raisedposition, and means engageable by said plate when swung beyond 90 tolimit further swinging thereof in a downward direction.

2. A cabinet according to claim 1, characterized in that supportingmeans are hingedly connected to said desk plate and are foldable up anddown.

3. A- cabinet according to claim 1, characterized by at least one doorcarrying at its inside a shelf extending into the free space underneathsaid typewriter supporting means when said door is closed.

4. A cabinet according to claim 3, characterized in that said doorcomprises a supporting roller.

5. A cabinet according to claim 4, characterized in that said door isprovided with a wedge which rests upon a bottom fledge of said cabinetwhen said door is closed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 543,940 8/1895Lauter 312-29 X 583,752 6/1897 Johnson 312-282 740,434 10/ 1903 Howe312-29 778,390 12/1904 Wheeler 312-21 X 902,737 11/1908 Jones 312-2371,543,980 6/1925 Blood. 1,943,282 1/1934 Bellavia 312- X 2,328,0198/1943 Jones 312-194 2,429,362 10/ 1947 McDowell 312-282 2,531,64611/1950 Rockola 312-213 2,533,155 12/1950 Von Hacht 312-194 2,655,42010/1953 Hadley 312-282 2,988,413- 6/1961 Bergen 312-195 FOREIGN PATENTS812,819 9/ 1951 Germany.

274,359 5/1930 Italy.

575,885 4/ 1958 Italy.

3,258 of =1 890 Great Britain. 251,852 9/1948 Switzerland.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. FRANK B. SHERRY, Examiner.

1. A LIVING-ROOM OFFICE CABINET WITH MEANS FOR RECEIVING OFFICEARTICLES, COMPRISING IN ITS UPPER PORTION VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLETYPEWRITER SUPPORTING MEANS, AND A DESK PLATE SECURED TO SAID CABINETNEAR ONE OF ITS END AND BEING SWINGABLE IN HORIZONTAL DIRECTION TO COVERTHE CABINET, SAID VERTICAL ADJUSTABLE TYPEWRITER SUPPORTING MEANSCOMPRISING A SUPORTING MEMBER, PARALLEL GUIDE MEANS CONNECTING SAIDSUPPORTING MEMBER TO SAID CABINET, A PLATE WHICH IS TILTABLE ABOUT AHORIZONTAL AXIS BY MEANS OF A HANDLE CONNECTED TO SAID PLATE, SAID PLATEBEING PIVOTED AT ITS ONE EDGE FOR SWINGING UPWARDLY FROM A HORIZONTALPOSITION BY MORE THAN 90* AND HAVING MEANS AT ITS OTHER EDGE ENGAGEABLEWITH THE LOWER SIDE OF THE SUPPORTING MEMBER FOR HOLDING IT IN RAISEDPOSITION, AND MEANS ENGAGEABLE BY SAID PLATE WHEN SWUNG BEYOND 90* TOLIMIT FURTHER SWINGING THEREOF IN A DOWNWARD DIRECTION.